


Stir

by hyerewolf



Series: a call to motion [2]
Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Drift Compatibility, F/F, Gen, Hong Kong Shatterdome, Jaeger Academy, Jaeger Pilots, Jaegers (Pacific Rim), Kaiju (Pacific Rim), The Drift (Pacific Rim), chuuseul are there but this ain't all about them this time around, other loona members
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-03-30 00:48:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19031371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyerewolf/pseuds/hyerewolf
Summary: stir (verb):1. to move or to cause something to move slightly;2. stir yourself to wake up or begin to move or take actionJiwoo was no stranger to action. She wasn't the only one that needed to move.





	Stir

**Author's Note:**

> after a break, i'm back on my bullshit. (i say, as if i was ever off it in the first place.) i did rewatch the movie this time - or rather, the first 10 minutes of it, which was just enough to make some of the scenes as accurate as possible.
> 
> alternative title: the one where jiwoo has to deal with the most unapproachable grump and this time it's not haseul
> 
> and hey - i still don't have a beta for this story, so excuse all typos and/or grammar mistakes

 "God _damn it_ ," Jiwoo hissed as she rounded the corner and felt her foot slip on the wet floor. She kept her balance only by sheer willpower and forced herself to keep running, very well aware that she must've looked like an anime protagonist.

It was Jiwoo's first day in the Jaeger Academy and _of course_  she was running late.

The reason was trivial - she overslept, completely ignoring her six alarms. When she finally woke up, she was five minutes late - and counting. She was tempted to blame jet lag for that and just bury herself deeper into her bedsheets, but something at the back of her mind was telling her the higher-ups wouldn't accept that kind of attitude this early on in the program. Or, come to think of it, ever. 

Panting and disheveled, she reached the room where the orientation was supposed to take place. She took in a deep breath and opened the door without knocking.

The lieutenant leading the orientation greeted her with a stern glare before glancing quickly at a tablet in his hand, probably looking at the attendance roll. "Ah, Kim, finally. We were about to start." 

"I am awfully sorry, sir." Jiwoo bowed before it occurred to her that a salute would probably be more suitable in this situation. She almost slapped her own forehead. 

The man simply nodded, his eyes still narrowed. "Take a sit, Kim Jungeun." He turned back to face the rows of recruits. 

Jiwoo blinked, furrowing her brows. "My name is Kim Jiwoo, sir." 

Before the man could respond, Jiwoo heard the door behind her open and her head turned automatically to look at the newcomer.

" _I'm_  Kim Jungeun," said a girl, walking in. She had her blonde hair up in a messy ponytail and a red duffel bag was slung over her shoulder. Her gaze could only be described as challenging as she looked straight at the lieutenant, her chin high. _Way to make an entrance_ , Jiwoo thought, raising her brow, but she kept her mouth shut.

"Sit down then, both of you. It's not some kind of kindergarten." The lieutenant waved his hand, clearly not amused. "This is your first and last warning. If you're late again, you will face the consequences."

The last two unoccupied seats were on the back of the room, right next to each other. When they sat down, Jiwoo smiled at the other girl. "Did you oversleep, too?" 

"No," grumbled Kim Jungeun, not even sparing her a single look as she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen out of her bag. "I was training." 

"Training?" Jiwoo was puzzled, to say the least. The exercises were supposed to start the next day, after the theoretical orientation and the presentation of the rules in the academy. Could it be possible that this girl got to Kodiak Island earlier than the rest of her coursemates? 

But the girl didn't answer, focusing fully on whatever was being shown on the holographic screen in front of them. Jiwoo pouted and turned her head as well. _It's alright_ , she thought, she didn't have to be friends with everyone she met here. 

* * *

The academy's ranger course was both nothing and everything Jiwoo has expected. It had more theoretical classes than she was prepared for at first, but she quickly grew accustomed to the routine of the life in the academy. 

An assembly early in the morning, followed by hours of combat training, where they were being familiarized with different fighting techniques, and simulations, during which they had to come up with the best possible solutions to presented scenarios in the shortest possible time, lasting until lunch. Then they went on to join the theoretical classes or attend individual meetings with psychologists and analysts monitoring their mental well-being and teaching them all about mindfullness and _whatever_. Jiwoo was trying her best to focus on those breathing excercises and properly meditate, but sitting still was simply not in her range of abilities. 

"I think better when I'm moving," she said once, and therefore earned bonus mandatory hours of gym exercises. Not her brightest moment, she decided one evening while almost tripping on the treadmill, but one that paid off with more stamina allowing her to be able keep up during the morning routines in the combat room.

After a few days, she took up a habit of wandering around the academy's buildings, visiting the rooms she didn't have the chance to see yet and making friends with the staff along the way. Despite the corridors' layout being carefully planned out to be the most efficient, especially during emergencies - a weird precaution, as if any kaiju was ever even close to emerging near the Alaskan shores not counting the sole attack on Vancouver, before the academy was even founded - Jiwoo has found herself lost more than a handful of times.

She didn't know how she ended up in the southern wing after wandering around the storage rooms, but there was no point in questioning it anymore. Maybe, for some reason, whoever designed this floor thought every single gym room needed to be in the smallest possible proximity to the shelves full of paper towels and cleaning supplies. {She made sure not to think about how those were probably useful while cleaning the blood off of the floor.}

She heard a dull thump in the otherwise quiet corridor, coming from one of the rooms. Jiwoo, like a cat destined to be killed, let her curiosity lead her to the source of the sound. She peered through the glass in the door, careful not to open it, just in case she was actually not authorized to come here at this hour.

There, in the far corner of the room, was Jungeun. She was punching and kicking a training bag repeatedly, and Jiwoo couldn't recognize the pattern as any of the ones they have been taught in the past several days during training. Jiwoo furrowed her brows, puzzled yet again by the girl.

Then, suddenly, Jungeun stopped in midmotion, as if she heard or realized something. Jiwoo held her breath, for some reason scared of being seen by Jungeun.

She backed away, as quietly as possible. 

* * *

Kim Jungeun made Jiwoo feel uneasy. She didn't talk much, only giving curt replies when asked. And yet everything about her attitude just screamed for _attention_  and it wasn't the kind that Jiwoo was used to - the kind, friendly one, that came with people you actually cherish talking with you or listening. Jungeun wanted to be seen and talked about, and she decided to make it happen by any means possible, including scowling and frowning at everyone.

Or at least that was what Jiwoo picked up after the first two weeks in the program.

Jiwoo herself, however, was a social chameleon, fitting nicely into every discussion and every situation, making others smile and feel listened to. She was loud when people around her needed someone to take the spotlight, and attentive when others were talking. Even the teachers of the academy took a liking to her.

It was clear to everyone - themselves included - that Jiwoo and Jungeun were as different as possible and maybe that's why everyone - themselves included - was surprised when they finally faced off against each other in the kwoon combat room.

For the past two days their group of recruits has been sparring with one another. The fightmasters decided they were finally ready to be paired up before the next phase of the ranger training, which was confirmed to be concluded with piloting an actual jaeger - one of two Mark-1s owned by the academy, nicknamed by the recruits Tutor and Magister. 

Jiwoo didn't feel tired, but she was almost sure it was just the adrenaline and excitement running through her veins. She's sparred with a couple of people so far, and the fights went just as good as they could, almost as if she could be compatible with all of her coursemates. Yet, all of those recruits turned out to have better-suited partners, so Jiwoo was still waiting, bouncing slightly while standing beside the large training mat in the center of the combat room. There was always a chance that her partner wasn't in their batch and she was aware of it, but she tried to keep her chin up. After all, the final results were decided by the psych analysts present during the sparring, so there was still a chance that one of the recruits she already fought with was going to be assigned to her.

She watched as two other trainees were facing off in the center of the room. It was obvious that one of them, a tall, lanky guy, was clearly dominating in their brawl - a failed match-up. One of the fightmasters clapped his hands, announcing the end of the sparring, and the shorter person let out a relieved sigh loud enough to be heard by everyone.

The pair of recruits scrambled to their feet, shook hands, and stepped off of the mat. The fightmaster nodded and looked at the list pinned to a pad he was holding. He tapped it with a pen a few times, humming to himself.

"Kim Jiwoo," he announced, causing Jiwoo to straighten up.

"Yes, present!" She walked up to the center of the mat with a determined face and looked at the group of recruits, wondering who might be her next opponent. She ruled out the two that has just finished their sparring and the three people that she has already sparred with. That left only four people. Jiwoo's eyes drifted to each of them as she judged her chances. The sparrings were for pairing purposes, yes, but Jiwoo would be lying if she said she didn't like winning, even if the whole purpose of the exercise was to achieve the perfect balance between two recruits.

"And Kim Jungeun," announced the fightmaster.

Jungeun, who so far was leaning against the wall on the back of the room, behind all of the other recruits, raised her eyebrows, clearly surprised. She walked up to the mat, a look of boredom already back on her face. Jiwoo smiled at her, to which Jungeun reacted with a sigh.

"Let's get it over with," she said, stretching her neck before stepping into a battle stance. Jiwoo followed her, raising her fists - because, honestly, what else was she supposed to do? Jiwoo noticed from the corner of her eye that one of the traineeswanted to toss them a pair of training sabres, but the fightmaster stopped him with a flick of a hand. It made her stomach flip.

Jiwoo expected Jungeun to initiate the fight, but nothing like that happened. For several long seconds they stood opposite each other, unmoving, waiting for the other's blow. 

Ultimately, it was who Jiwoo attacked first, going for a hesitant grab on the other girl's shoulder to bring her to the ground in a couple of swift moves. Before she could do that, though, Jungeun responded with an effortless block, grabbing Jiwoo's sleeve instead. They froze for what felt like minutes, muscles tense, eyes sharp, trying to read the other's mind and outsmart the opponent.

Jiwoo abruptly wringed her arm, freeing herself from Jungeun's grip when the other girl didn't expect it, and using the speed to duck sideways to avoid standing where she thought her opponent would strike next. She was right, and it filled her with some pride.

Jungeun swayed slightly when her fist didn't connect with Jiwoo's torso as she has planned, but quickly regained her footing and managed to steady herself just in time for the other girl's next attack.

Once again, they ended up in a stalemate, with Jiwoo's hand caught by Jungeun, but that quickly changed when Jiwoo moved her whole body to throw the blonde off-balance. The other girl, though surprised, managed to keep up with the move, not letting Jiwoo bring her to the ground.

They moved in a perfect harmony of actions and reactions, with none of them having the upper hand for longer than several seconds. Their styles weren't that different from each other, which came as a surprise and made it even harder for any of them to catch the other off guard. For every punch or kick Jiwoo tried to execute, Jungeun had a block, and an effective one at that. None of them managed to lay a single blow on the opponent.

Then one of the fightmasters clapped, startling them both. "That's enough," he announced, and wrote a note on his tablet, while the other two nodded at each other.

At the end of the class, Jiwoo heard a verdict: her and Kim Jungeun were drift compatible.

* * *

After getting paired up in the combat room, they were assigned - alongside other pairs of future rangers - to several days of intense brain scans and medical tests, making sure both of them were actually ready for the strain that was the neural connection. Jiwoo hated those more than anything else, repeating the same simple tasks until she felt like she was going to bore herself to death.

After those ended, another intense period of time came, when she was put in a mock-pod simulator with Jungeun. To be fair, she expected an immediate failure, and quite possibly so did Jungeun, if her frown when they were entering the test room for the first time was anything to go by. Surprisingly, not only didn't they get a one way ticket back home, but they were placed among the pairs with the shortest time between initiating and entering the simulation.

Then they were made familiar with the drivesuits and the systems running them. It was difficult for Jiwoo to get used to the armor-like suit hindering her movements and stopping her from performing more intricate of the kicks she's learned. Jungeun, on the other hand, seemed to have problems with letting the technicians touch her and assemble her suit. For a while Jiwoo thought those issues would disqualify them from moving on with the course, but after a week they were at least able to go through the preparation procedures without openly complaining.

Only then they were moved to practicing on the proving ground. 

The training jaegers were clunky and jaded, as much as the relationship between Jiwoo and Jungeun. What developed between them wasn't a friendship, more of a reluctant partnership, based solely on the obligations. Still, despite all that, the two girls moved in perfect unison while piloting one of the old, battered Mark-1s on the snowy field right beside the academy, some of its weary joints wailing louder than they should be.

Jiwoo raised her arm and she felt Jungeun doing the same, working with her in a perfect synergy. Magister aimed at the target at the end of the proving grounds. The plasmacaster roared. The target exploded.

"Good job," said one of the supervisors when Jiwoo and Jungeun removed  their helmets and the technicians were taking off their armor. "You still need some training, but the talent is there." He gave them a thumbs up before walking away.

Jiwoo let out a loud squeal, a wide smile almost splitting her face in two, but it dimmed the second she laid her eyes on Jungeun's unamused face.

"Oh, come on, grump," Jiwoo whined, "gimmie five!" She raised her hand for a high five.

"We aren't friends," said Jungeun, staring at Jiwoo's palm.

"So? I was in your head literally four minutes ago. We aren't strangers either," pointed out Jiwoo, hand still up in the air. Jungeun scoffed and walked out of the room.

Despite the bumps in their relationship, they passed all the required tests and evaluations with little to no difficulty. Jiwoo was amazed that she managed to spend almost four months with Jungeun and both of them came out of it intact.

When she was handed her final evaluation papers, she stared with pride at the words in bold right in the middle of the sheet. **_Ranger Ready._**  And next to it, in another column, their new base. **_Hong Kong Shatterdome._**

* * *

"Your crush is becoming painful to watch." Jungeun said when Jiwoo walked into their room with a gym bag slung over her shouder. She was lying in her bed, her head propped up against a pillow, throwing a tennis ball at the wall in front of her with one hand and catching it with the other. 

Jiwoo blinked, both taken aback by the comment and surprised to see her roommate there. "My what."

They have been living in Hong Kong for a month now, sharing the small quarters, yet they managed to spend a considerably small amount of time in one space. They had learned each other's timetables and habits, but only to reduce the interactions outside the necessary ones in the training rooms. Heejin kept scolding them for that, stressing how important it was to create a strong bond between the pilots, and they had had at least three separate lectures from the base commanders on the matter. All to no avail; they stayed as cold to each other as before.

Given all that, a comment on her love life was the last thing Jiwoo has expected to hear from her drift partner.

"Your crush." Jungeun threw the ball at the wall again and caught it with the same hand without a problem. "It's so obvious. If she can't see it then she's legally blind, and she should get her eyes checked."

"There's nothing to see," said Jiwoo, turning around to unpack her gym bag {and maybe hide her flushed cheeks}. Jungeun hummed in response, throwing the ball again.

"Yeah, right. It's only natural you follow her like a puppy and sigh dreamily whenever you think she can't hear you."

"I don't do anything like that!" Jiwoo stomped her foot, perfectly aware it made her look like an overgrown five year old.

"Really? And where were you just now?"

 "At gym with... Haseul..." Jiwoo's tailed off when she realized she was only proving the point. "It doesn't mean anything!" Shut up!"

Jungeun smirked and threw the ball once again.

* * *

As much as she was used to long and boring military ceremonies, this one was a strong contender to take the cake in Jiwoo's personal ranking of the longest and most boring ones, beating even the one she had to attend right before graduating form the jaeger academy. The speeches made by the officials were as bland and uninspired as ever, and the whole matter of the gathering was as grand as it was well-known; the Iceberg Hopper crew saved Hong Kong again and they were, once again, dubbed the pride and joy of the South Korea. The only upside to this situation was how good Haseul looked, dressed in formal attire. Or maybe Jiwoo just liked her in white. Whatever it was, she was now free to stare all she wanted.

She felt a sharp jab between her ribs and winced, throwing a look at the girl beside her.

"You're drooling again, doofus," Jungeun deadpanned, not even looking in Jiwoo's direction. Her eyes were fixed on the stage, even though her expression was bored beyond belief.

"Am not!" Jiwoo hissed, trying to keep the eye contact with Haseul on the stage. "She just... Looks really good in this." She knew her ear tips were bright red - she could feel them burning, but admitting _anything_  to Jungeun wasn't an option. 

"That's literally a regular drivesuit, just a different color." Her copilot shook her head slightly. "You're so fucking whipped." 

The burning feeling spread from Jiwoo's ears to her cheeks. "St _ooo_ p, I barely talk with her."

Jungeun smirked, amused. "And how does that help your case."

Jiwoo didn't respond. She didn't want to dig this hole any deeper, so she focused on the cerermony and whatever was happening on the stage. Another one of the officials just stood up and made his way to the rostrum, smiling all the way there, making sure to show his better side to the photographers. His face looked vaguely familiar to Jiwoo, and she figured she must've seen him on the news some other day, but the fact that she couldn't recall his name meant that he wasn't connected close enough to the Pan Pacific Defence Corps to matter to the people who actually did the dirty job of punching the kaiju in their ugly snouts. He smoothed out his expensive looking pinstripe jacket almost as if he was validating her guesses.

She didn't miss Jungeun's grimace or how she whispered a quiet "fucker" when he began his lengthy speech, but she didn't question it, either.

* * *

Jiwoo stared at Haseul's back with a frown on her face. As cute and heartfelt the story of Iceberg Hopper's name was, it did barely anything to help her with her dilemma. Disappointment was settling in her chest with each step the other girl took, alongside a reallization that she was truly on her own with the task of talking to Jungeun about their jaeger's name. _Again._  As if the last six times went smoothly. With a huff, she dropped her chopsticks onto her tray and carried it away.

Jungeun, to her surprise, came back to their quarters just as Jiwoo sat down at the table, the piece of paper with the Pan Pacific Defence Corps' logo in its upper right corner. Both of them stared at each other for a long second. Jungeun started to slowly back away.

"No way." Jiwoo stood up immediately, sending the chair she was sitting on flying, and jumped between the girl and the door. Jungeun rolled her eyes.

"What do you want?"

Jiwoo made her way back to the table in two bounces.

"Have you thought about it?" she asked as Jungeun closed the door with a sigh and dropped her bag under her bed.

"About what?"

Jiwoo waved the form in the air. "Our jaeger's name."

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"That's it?"

Jungeun climbed the ladder to her bunk. "That's it. What more do you want?"

"Oh, I don't know," Jiwoo's voice was dripping with sarcasm, all of a sudden she was both let down and bitter, "maybe some kind of initiative, like, anything suggesting that maybe you are aware of the fact that we need to work _together_."

Jungeun shrugged. "I don't care." She turned around to face the wall and put on her headphones, indicating the end of the conversation.

Jiwoo huffed, sitting down again. After a while of staring at the blank form and furrowing her brows, she grabbed a pen. 

Well, this would have to do.

* * *

The jaeger stood proudly amidst scaffoldings in the middle of the shatterdome's main hangar, upright like a soldier ready to take orders, lacking only the head and lone armor pieces. The flaps on its massive torso were open, showing the barrel of the rocket launcher nestled in there. The mechanics were bustling to finish mounting the last parts together. Jiwoo was watching them with tired eyes from her own little scaffolding ledge, where she was sat cross-legged, her elbow resting in her knee, her chin propped up on her palm. _They look like ants_ , she thought, following the movements of the people below with her gaze. She recognized the blonde hair belonging to Jinsol, as the mechanic gestured enthusiastically while talking to another person - probably Hyunjin, realized Jiwoo. Yeah, given the crossed arms and the aura of being done with Jinsol's antics, it was most definitely Hyunjin. 

Jiwoo heard footsteps on the platform behind her and she turned her head, surprised, only to furrow her brows when she recognized the figure approaching her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as Jungeun came closer. She was holding a plate with what seemed like a few sandwiches, accompanied by several cookies.

The blonde shrugged. "I was going back to our quarters with a snack after my training and decided to take a shortcut." She was dressed in a white t-shirt and black sweatpants, her usual training gear, so that part of the explanation wasn't what made Jiwoo narrow her eyes in suspicion.

"Our room is the opposite way," she said in an accusatory way.

"Is it now," Jungeun's voice was as flat as a pancake. "Then I must not know this place well enough yet." Before Jiwoo had a chance to argue that they've been living in the shatterdome for almost two months and both of them have memorized the layout of the main corridors in less than a week, Jungeun spoke again. "Zeta Wing... The name sounds like you just threw two darts at a wall of the most generic name parts."

"It's final," Jiwoo said, her gaze turning to steel.

"I didn't say it was bad." Jungeun sent her a half-smile before setteling down next to her, her legs dangling from the platform, the plate right between the two girls. The defensiveness bubbling in Jiwoo's veins dissipated and her shoulders relaxed. She shifted in place in an attempt to let the other girl have her personal space, but she didn't say a word.

"Looks a lot like Magister after a paint job," said Jungeun after a moment of ambiguous silence. 

"Kinda." Jiwoo smiled. "But Magister was, like, a hundred years old. Let's hope this one's easier to move around."

Silence filled the space between them again as they watched what could only be Hyunjin's lithe silhouette scaling up Zeta Wing's armorless leg with ease, using the pneumatic systems and large wires as support, while Jinsoul's shouts could be heard from below. It was hard to tell whether she was furious at the younger mechanic or encouraging her, but Hyunjin's usual snarky retorts weren't present, so Jiwoo figured the climb must've been more difficult than it seemed. Ultimately someone from the crew brought over a lift to help Hyunjin get back down to the floor after she's finished plugging in a stray wire.

"Hey," Jungeun spoke up again, "do you want a cookie?"

"What?" Jiwoo looked back at her, dumbfounded, until Jungeun pointed at the plate between them, smirking. Jiwoo smiled back, picked up a cookie. Even if she thought it might be poisoned, she didn't let it show as she peacefully nimbled on it.

The silence between them didn't feel that awkward anymore.

* * *

After that night, Jiwoo was sure they were on the best way to becoming actual friends - or at least more than strangers Jungeun claimed them to be. And they were, at least for a while that felt like a blink of an eye.

They'd meet up on the scaffolding for a while, always watching the mechanics polishing up Zeta Wing, and then, when their jaeger was ready for deployment, they  silently agreed to move those daily meetings to their quarters, which ultimately transformed into eating late night meals together, either in the canteen or in their beds.

"I kissed Haseul last night," confessed Jiwoo one night, blush appearing on her cheeks.

Jungeun almost choked on her noodles. "Congrats," she blurted out once she got hold of her coughing fit enough to speak again.

The other girl giggled, the blush spreading further. "I think- I mean, we're dating now. I'm so happy, Jungeun, you can't imagine."

Jungeun nodded, silently picking at her meal.

The next night Jungeun threw a half-baked excuse at Jiwoo when asked about what she wants to eat today. _I want to train some more, eat without me._

A few more times were enough for them to slip back into barely talking. Two weeks later they were avoiding each other again.

* * *

"Going out with Haseul again?" Jungeun asked offhandedly when she noticed her roommate going through the closet.

Jiwoo stiffled the urge to say something along the lines of "why do you care" or "oh, fuck off" or "so what", and settled on a much more civil, "Yes, why?"

Jungeun shrugged. "Just asking," she said, going back to the book she was reading before she directed her attention at the other girl.

Jiwoo bit her lip, considering her options, running the worst case scenarios through her head before speaking up again. "We're going to the city for a dinner. Do you want to join us?"

"No," muttered Jungeun. "I mean, _no, thank you_. Wouldn't want to be a third wheel."

"Okay." Jiwoo shrugged. She put on her shoes and looked at Jungeun one last time before leaving.

"Well, you tried," said Haseul later, putting her hand on Jiwoo's arm. They were sitting in a booth of a local restaurant, waiting for their food to arrive. The owner always bragged about the view, both in person as on the ads, as the place was situated high enough to have a mostly unobstructed view on the Victoria Harbour. Jiwoo and Haseul consciously picked the only booth facing the wall. Everything to run away from the familiar black silhouette of the shatterdome, sticking out from the waves, and pretend they weren't humanity's last hope. 

"You can't just force someone to be friends with you."

"I gave up on being _friends_ a long time ago," sighed Jiwoo. "I just don't understand what's going on in her head."

"Assuming _anything's_  going on there." Haseul shrugged, earning a playful shove from Jiwoo.

"Don't joke like that," the younger girl scolded her. "I'm serious."

"I know," said Haseul, putting her hand over Jiwoo's, "but I also hate seeing you so worried about things you can't change."

Jiwoo opened her mouth to say something, but in that exact moment the waiter approached their table with their food, and any worries regarding Jungeun were moved to the back of her head.

* * *

**_Zeta Wing, report to Bay 04, level A-29._ **

When the alert blared out, Jiwoo reacted automatically, with a pracitced precision. She put away the crossword puzzle she's been trying to solve for the better part of the hour now and trotted out of her quarters, heading straight to the drivesuit room.

She was halfway there when the realization hit Jiwoo like a bag of bricks, making her feel sick. There was no further call for Iceberg Hopper to report to the bay. Zeta Wing was being deployed for the first time outside of training,  _and they were going solo_.

Haseul mentioned the day before that Iceberg Hopper was still undergoing maintenance after the last deployment, all because Jinsol decided she wanted to, quote, _try something new_ , end quote. Whatever it was, it was taking longer than expected, making the jaeger unusable, much to Yeojin's very vocal displeasure.

Cursing under her breath, Jiwoo picked up the pace. She wanted to make her way to the drivesuit room as fast as she could, hoping Jungeun would be there already.

She wasn't.

The technicians didn't wait for her to show up, though; the moment Jiwoo stepped inside the drivesuit room, they started assembling her armor, carefully putting the plates together over the black circuitry suit.

Another polycarbonate shell clicked into its place when the door opened again, 

"Jungeun? Where have you been? What are you waiting for?" asked Yerim. She stood up, Jiwoo's right greave still in her hands.

"Get over there, quick," added Sooyoung, gesturing to other technicians to fetch her Jungeun's armor from the cabinet.

Jiwoo turned around. Jungeun was standing still at the entrance, looking at the people in the room as if she was expecting someone to be there. She furrowed her brows and turned around, ready to leave.

"Kim Jungeun!" Jiwoo shouted. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm not drifting with you," replied Jungeun, barely turning to look at her copilot. Jiwoo was stumped.

"Are you completely mad? Get your ass over here, I can't pilot this can alone!"

Jungeun shrugged. "You don't need me."

"What the fuck..." Jiwoo shook her head. "Come here, Kim Jungeun! We _will_  drift together today!"

Jungeun stood firmly in place. "No."

"What?"

"I don't want to talk about it." It came out as a mumbled mess, Jungeun's eyes cast somewhere to the side.

"You gotta be kidding me..." Jiwoo let out a bitter laugh. "You never want to talk about it. You have all those issues and baggage or whatever you _don't want to talk about_ , yet you expect me to understand you and respect your behaviour, no matter what! I can't read your mind, damn it!" She took a breath. "And, right now, I don't care what's going on in there! You have to understand that  _this_ , _right now_  isn't about _you_! Or me! Or us! _At! All!_  It's about the innocent people out there, who can die any fucking second because you refused to drift with me! You can hate me or despise me or whatever all you want later, but now we're running out of time, so, for fuck's sake, just _get in the fucking robot, Jungeun_!"

Jungeun opened her mouth to answer, but she closed it after a fraction of a second. Confused - maybe even startled - by Jiwoo's outburst, she finally moved and walked up to Sooyoung, her jaw and fists clutched. She allowed the technicians to assemble the armor. In any other situation the silence on her side would fill Jiwoo with unease, but right now all of her attention was focused on calming down just enough to allow the neural handshake to connect, while Yerim and Sooyoung took care of Jungeun.

In the end, the technicians plugged in their spinal clamps and the relay gel poured into their helmets; there was a sense of hastiness in everyone's movements, Jiwoo realized, as they must have been close to the deployment time running out. It made her heart race with anxiety and fear.

Finally ready, they stepped into their places, the clamps locking up their feet in the Conn-pod. Jiwoo looked at Jungeun, who gave her a single nod. She pressed the comm button. "Zeta Wing, ready for the drop."

The answer came immediately. "Copy. Initiating the drop."

The whirring of machinery outside of the pod let them know that there was no going back now. The pod shook when it attached to the rest of the jaeger's body, and then once again, when the mech was being rolled out of the bay and into the water.

"Initiating neural handshake."

Jiwoo took a deep breath. She felt Jungeun's mind's presence and closed her eyes, forcing herself to stay calm, evening out her breathing.

A familiar feeling of being pulled under water overwhelmed Jiwoo as memories started runnng through her head, both her own and Jungeun's, merging, mixing, interlocking. There was a lot she didn't understand in the scenes she saw, but she never dared to ask about any of them. As long an none of them made Jungeun chase the rabbit, they weren't relevant, right?

Zeta Wing shook when it hit the seabed, stirring the waters and breaking the waves ruffled by the kaiju. Jiwoo squinted, blinded by the sun reflecting on the water, and it took her a second to adjust. 

She raised her right hand. "Right hemisphere, calibrating."

"Left hemisphere, calibrating," answered Jungeun, like an echo.

_Calibration complete_  flashed on the holographic display in front of them.

The monster roared as soon as it spotted the jaeger, giving the rangers inside the first and last warning before it charged at them, shaking its blunt head and raising a frill around its neck.

Jiwoo clenched her jaw, shifting into the practiced battle stance with ease, ready to take on the kaiju's impact. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jungeun stretching her neck, just like that time in the academy, right before they sparred for the first time. She felt her determination push out any semblance of fear or doubt from her mind. They were as ready as they'd ever be. 

They raised their right arms, and Zeta Wing's plasmacaster roared to life.

* * *

Jiwoo was lying in her bed, staring at the crack in the ceiling right above her head. Below her, Jungeun was going through her laundry, folding it neatly as if they hadn't fought a giant monster just a couple hours earlier.

Jiwoo finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry about what I said in the drivesuit room today."

Jungeun hummed but didn't say anything. She rolled a sock and put it in her drawer.

Jiwoo winced at the lukewarm response. "Do you want to talk about it now?"

"About what." Jungeun's voice was as flat as a pancake. Another pair of socks ended up in the drawer.

"About everything. We drifted before without a problem, many times. What's changed? Why didn't you want to drift with me?" Jiwoo couldn't hide the hurt that slipped into her tone.

Silence. Jiwoo shifted to take a look at the other girl and saw Jungeun standing still, clutching a shirt. For a moment Jiwoo was scared that she was crying, bur there was no sound and Jungeun's shoulders were still. Tense. The silence kept growing.

"Jungeun..."

"I thought you were going to replace me. As a copilot. With Haseul." Jungeun interrupted her before she could say anything else. "You can easily drift with almost anyone. Don't deny it, we both know it's true," she said, knowing the other girl would try to disagree. Jiwoo closed her mouth and let her continue. "If you could work woth anyone else - if you could drift with Haseul - then why would you want to stick with me."

Jungeun's arms slumped. She sat down on the floor and spilled a story about a girl that dreamt of exploring the sky, but ended up fighting whatever came from the depths of the oceans.

Her father, a professional soldier himself, always wanted a child of his to follow his footsteps, _carry the legacy_ , and what greater occasion for becoming a national hero than the Jaeger Academy accepting everyone, no matter their actual skills, yet giving them the opportunity of a lifetime? So he made his eldest child, his son, enlist. And when he didn't make the cut, dropping out right before finding a potential drift partner, and then focusing on politics more than fighting, the old man turned to his second child - Jungeun.

She was bright and had good enough grades to have a real shot at becoming an aerospace engineer she has always wanted to be, fascinated by all things flying. Her father, an intimidating man with enough power over his family, basically forced her into a uniform and sent her all the way up to Kodiak Island, a surrogate for his own ambitions. And Jungeun didn't have it in her to oppose.

And then one Kim Jiwoo turned out to be everything Jungeun despised. Bright eyes, big smile, head full of dreams - it reminded Jungeun of herself before everything went to shit. Before the kaiju appeared, before her brother enlisted and rose up through the ranks quicker than almost anyone, only to leave the army and become a politician, before she enlisted just to please her father and stayed in the army to show them - her parents, her family, her officer brother himself - that she can do it, too. She can do it better.

"I'm sorry," Jiwoo whispered, putting a hand on Jungeun's shoulder. Somewhere in the middle of the story she came down from her bunk and sat beside the other girl.

Jungeun shrugged in response, her eyes glued to the floor.

"You should do things for your own sake," Jiwoo continued.

"For my own sake..." Jungeun mused, like she was trying the words - and the mindset - on. She pondered for a few seconds before looking up to meet her copilot's eyes. "Then, for my own sake, I would like to be friends with you."

Jiwoo's eyes went wide, but quickly turned into crescents when she grinned. "Really?"

Jungeun nodded, stretching out her hand. "Really. Kim Jiwoo, would you be my friend?"

Jiwoo smiled even wider - Jungeun didn't know it was possible - before enveloping the other girl in a bear hug.

**Author's Note:**

> to anyone who got that one reference - i'm sorry
> 
> twitter/curiouscat: @bbywolfs
> 
> (slides away)


End file.
